Huller and opener



1,623,181 Apnl 1927' w. L. HANCOCK HULLER AND OPENER Filed Oct. 9. 19262 Sheets-Sheet l 5 W g mawuc H6402;

1,623,181 Apnl 1927' w. L. HANCOCK HULLER AND OPENER Filed Oct. 9, 19262 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented A r. 5, .1927.

UNITED STATES 1,623,181 PATENT OFFICE."

WILLIAM L. HANCOCK, OF DALLAS,,TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MURRAY COMPANY, 01DALLAS, TEXAS, A CORPORATION OF TEXAS.

EULLER AND OPENER.

Application filed October 9, 1926. Serial No. 140,513.

My invention is-an improvement in machines for cleanin seed cotton fromburrs and bulls and picklng the seed cotton therefrom. a Y

In the drawings: n y

Figure 1 is a vertical, sectional elevation of my improved machine;

Figure 2 is a side view, on a reduced scale, of Figure 1, showing thebelting lay out;

Figure 3 is a, front elevation;

Figure 4 is a View on a reduced scale showing the other side of Figure 2and the belting layout;

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figme 1. I

The frame X which encloses and supports the moving parts of my machinemay be of angle iron and of rectangular shape in cross section andsupports the bearings for the various moving parts of the machine, aswill be plain without further specification.

The main element ofmy device is a drum 1, rotating in a vertical planeupon suitable bearings 11, actuated by a driving pulley 11. This drum iscovered with'card clothing, se-

cured upon the drum in any suitable way. The wire teeth 1* of the cardclothing, as is common, are of tempered steel, bentto project in thedirection of movement of the carrying drum and after being placed uponthe drum and at intervals thereafter are ground to an edge in awell-known manner. At the inside of the front of the machine (left-sidein Figure 1) upon the cross and side frame members are secured thevarious mechanical elements whichjointly and severally co-operate withthe drum element in performing the necessary operations upon the seedcotton.

Referring now particularly to Figure 1, it will be noted that threeconveyors, 21, 22 and 23 are placed across the machine. which arecarried at their ends in suitable bearings upon the frame of themachlne, one end of the conveyo'rs 21 and 22, passing outside the frameupon the same side and belng contained severally in boxes 24 and 26 (seeFigwire 3). The under side of box 24 is open and above box 26. andconnected therewith by a chamber 25, the upper side of box 26 be,- ingopen. The conveyors 21, 22 and 23 are severally provided with troughs211, 221, 231, to sustain and guide the material being conveyed, asrequired.

-At the u per part of the front of frame X an upper eed opening X isformed across the face of the casing and outside this openmg, withoutthe frame, is placed a boll breaking mechanism, made up of feed rolls42, turning on the direction of the arrows and delivering the seedcotton in the form of a loose bat to the toothed breaker cylinder 32 bywhich the cotton is struck and thrown against the teeth 44 of thebreaker bar 4:4 and from the boll breaker the seed cotton then passes tothe feed opening X of the machine, and slides down a chute 5 and againstthe teeth 1 of the card clothing on the drum 1.

By this preliminary treatment by a boll breaker the bolls and hulls inthe seed cotton are crushed and opened and prepared for the eflicientaction of the cleaning mechanism.

The chamber a into which the cotton is introduced, as above described,is closed above by the trough 211 and below by the adjustable end 51of'the chute 5.- The ad'-- justability is effected by connecting the end51 of chute 5 with a toggle arm 6, which may be operated from withoutthe casing by a shaft 61 and handle 62, which may be secured in adjustedposition by a sector and thumb screw or other suitable detent mechanism,not shown. The inner end of the toggle arm may be secured to theunderside of a chute in anyone of several positions, as indicated inFigure 1. Chutes 9 are also adjustable by similar means.- Within thetrough 211 is a helical conveyor 21, a passag'e being left between theunderside of trough 211 and the upwardly moving teeth 1 on the drum 1.Above the conveyor 21 is a knocker roll 7, rotating as indicated by thearrow.

It will be convenient hereto indicate the operation of the meansdescribed. Seed cotton is introduced into chamber X through the feedopening X, the cotton sliding down the chute 5, 51, and the cotton massis shotv against the teeth 1 by which the lint is engaged and carriedupward, some of the broken hulls and bolls and the like being carried bythe adhering'lint, but the teeth .1 not generally engaging the hulls, asthe teeth are closely set and the hulls cannot enter between the teethor become impaled ,thereon. The lint with any adhering hulls.

is carried upward past trough 211, and knocker roll 7, rotating asindicated by the arrow, beats back the hulls and most of the across themachine in chamber X.

material not directly enga edby the teeth, this beaten back materialfilling by gravity into trough 211 and conveyor 21. The lint engaged byteeth 1" is carried to the exit 8 and removed by an suitable means. Ihave indicated a rotary rush 81, as such suitable.

i' teeth 1 will be carried up to the exit 8.

The material delivered into conveyor 21 is moved longitudinally of thetrough 211 to one end of the casing and through an exit opening 24 inthe end of the machine into.

box' 24 through the open bottom of which it falls through a. chamber 25into the box 26, the top of which isopen, where it is engaged by helicalconveyor 22 lying in trough 221, which conveyor rotating in the oppositedirection from conveyor 21 receives the seed cotton through an openingin the upper side of box 26 and moves the material longitudinally oftrough 221, through a lower inlet opening 26 into fllllld T e undersideof trough 221 is cut away in part, so that as the material is movedalong in chamber X a part ofit is constantly being spilled onto chute orbafiie 9, below the trough and is thus guided against the upwardlymoving teeth 1 by which it is engaged and carried up where. it comesunder the action of heater 7 which disengages hulls and the like fromthe lint engaged by teeth 1 and beats the hulls into trough 211 to beagain passed out of and into the machine and through chamber X and intochamber- X where roller 74wil1 coact with the teeth 1". That part of thematerial which is not engaged in chamber X falls into chamber k X whereroller 75 operates upon it and the rejected hulls and trash finallyreach con veyor 23 by which they are removed from the machine. At theend of these operations the lint has been separated, shaken and beatenfree from hulls and trash, the freed lint ascending with the drum to theexit 8 as it is freed and the rejected material'successively descendingby gravity to a lower level for another operation until finally all thelint is freed and the rejected material, consisting in its final stageof hulls and trash, is deposited upon the trash conveyor,

23, and ejected from the machine at the bottom.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description thatmy machine is ineffect a duplex machine, having'an inlet X and a lint exit 8 and also anexit 24 and a, lower inlet 26 co-operating therewith, through which asubstantial portion of the material entering at inlet X re-enters themachine after having been ejected through exit 24 the material enteringthrough inlet 26 being fed across the machine and caused to descend. bygravity to undergo a series of operations to enable the teeth 1 togather and convey to the lint exit 8, all clean lint.

It is advantageous and economical to hinge to the underside of theseveral chutes 51 and 9, cover members 10, which move with the chutes asthey are adjusted and automatically adjust themselves to a new position,forming a roof or cover for each chamber to prevent material from beingscattered and aid in condensing it and guiding it onto a chute oragainst a beater.

I have shown in the drawings the roll 7 as provided with angle ironbeating .lements. This is preferable for this roller whose main functionis as a, knocker, to knock material not engaged by the teeth 1" back andinto the trough 211. In the other rollers, 7 75, I prefer to use pins,as preferable where the function of the roller is more largely to engageand feed seed cotton againstthe teeth 1".

I have shown in Figures 2 and 4 a diagram of the belting layout for thehull separator and opener, wlth arrows indicating direction of travel ofthe belts. In these diagrams the actuating pulleys are indicated by thelettering'of the working elements within the mechanism. Thus, thepulleys upon the shaft of drum 1 are marked 1 in these diagrams. Thepulley 1 in Figure 2 is belted. direct to a driving shaft, pulley 81 inFigure 4 is also belted direct to a driving shaft. The boll breaker 4 isalso independently belted to a driving shaft. The belting of the bollbreaker is so obvious that I have not thought it necessary for clearunderstanding to illustrate it.

I claim:

1. In a duplex cotton hull separator and opener, a frame-casing havingupper and lower lint inlet openings and two lint exit openings; arotatable toothed drum supported on the frame the surface of the drumopposed to the upper inlet opening moving upward to a lint exit opening;a chute adjacent the upper feed opening to receive the entering materialand guide it a ainst the toothed drum; a knocker roller 9. jacent theupper part of the drum, to, heat back hulls and loose material whilepermitting the drum-engaged lint to pass on to an exit; means to 'removethe lint from the drum; a trough below the knocker roll to receive thematerial beaten back; a conveyor within the trough to move said materialalong the trough to an exit; a second conveyor below said exit toreceive the material and return it within the casing through the lowerfeed opening; a rebate over which the second conveyor moves the uppercompartment material and down which it is guided against the tootheddrum.

2. In a-cottonhull separator and opener, a frame-casing having a feedopening and a lint exit opening; a rotatable drum clothedwith wireteeth, the face of the drum opposed to the inlet opening moving upwardto the lint exit opening; a chute adjacent the feed opening; a knockerroll adjacent the upper part of the drum to beat back hulls andloose.material, while permitting the drum engaged lint to pass on to the exit;means to remove the lint from the wire teeth.

3. In a duplex cotton hull separator and opener, a frame-casing having acotton inlet opening into an intermediate inlet feed compartment; acompartment above the inlet feed compartment; a knocker roll in saidcompartment; a compartment below the inlet fee'd compartment; a by-passfrom the to said lower compartment; means to move the material from theupper compartment to the by-pass; means to move the material from the by-pass again into the casing; a lint engaging toothed drum, one face ofwhich moves upward through said lower compartment to the intermediateand upper compartments, forming one wall thereof; means to remove theclean lint from the drum. I

4. As in claim 3, a multiplicity of beater rolls adjacent the drumspaced one above the other; chutes arranged below the several rollscoacting therewith to guide and sustain the material for the action ofthe drum and beater rollers.

5. As in claim 3, a beater roll adjacent the drum; a chute arrangedbelow the roll coacting therewith to guide and sustain the material forthe action of the drum and beater roll, the chute being adjustabletoward and from the drum, to vary the opening between the inner end ofthe chute and the teeth of' the drum.

6. As in claim 3, a beater roll, adjacent the 'drum; a chute arrangedbelow the roll, co-

acting therewith to material for the action of the drum and beater roll,the chute being adjustable toward and from the drum to vary the openingbetween the inner end of the chute and the teeth of the drum, and havinghinged to the underside of the chute a cover plate to enclose the upperside of the chamber beneath the chute, the cover moving with the chutewhen the chute adjustment is made.

7. As in claim 3, a boll breaker adjacent the feed opening to theintermediate compartment; a chute to receive material from the bollbreaker and support and guide it against the upwardly moving face of thetoothed drum. I

8. In a cotton hull opener and separator, a frame-casing having a feed 0'ening and a lint exit opening; a rotatable rum clothed with wire teeth,the inner face of the drum, opposed to the feed opening, moving upwardto a lint exit opening; a boll breaking mechanism operatively arrangedwith respect to the feed opening; a chute adjacent the feed opening toreceive the cracked-boll seed cotton from the boil breaker and guide itagainst the teeth of the drum; a knocker roll adjacent the upper part'ofthe drum, to beat back bulls and loose material. while permitting thedrum engaged lint to pass on;

means to remove the lint from the wire teeth,

9. As in claim 8, a trough below the knocker roll, to receive thematerial beaten back; a conveyor within the trough to move said materialalong the trough to a second exit opening; a second conveyor below saidsecond exit opening to receive the descending material and return itwithin the casing;

a chute over which the second conveyor moves the material and down whichit is guided against the upwardly moving teeth of the drum.

Signed at Danae- Texas, this second day of October 1926.

WILLIAM L. HANCOCK..

guide and sustain the l

